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The day of judgement is here – a seven-member Supreme Court bench will today (Thursday) decide the fate of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for willfully defying its order by not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against his party’s co-chairman, President Asif Ali Zardari.
Gilani on Wednesday told his cabinet he would appear before the court for a third time and head to the court premises “on foot” to exhibit his respect for the apex court.
Meanwhile, in an unpleasant surprise for the defiant PM, his son Ali Musa Gilani, a nominee in the Ephedrine quota scam, was summoned by the Anti-Narcotics Force for recording his statement at almost the same time Gilani is scheduled to appear in SC.
Gilani’s Principal Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, also named in the Rs 7 billion drug scam, has been directed to appear before ANF on Friday (tomorrow).
The court’s decision cannot be anticipated until it is announced. However, the most likely scenario is that Gilani will have to pay for not implementing the court order. And, he is willing to face the consequences – six months imprisonment and a constitutional bar from holding any public office for five years.
Having achieved the distinction of becoming the longest-serving chief executive of the country, Gilani has publicly made it clear that he would accept going to jail suggesting that he would neither bow before the court nor would he take the blame for being disloyal to his party.
There are apparently two scenarios – conviction or acquittal.
In case of his conviction, the prime minister will be morally bound to immediately step down but this is unlikely as his counsel Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has said Gilani would still be the chief executive even in jail.
Experts are of the view that there is a possibility that the seven-member bench may convict Gilani and sentence him until the rising of the court instead of sending him to jail for six months.
But even if his sentence ends with the rising of the case, they say, he would be considered a convict and thus disqualified to hold any public office. It, however, remains to be seen whether his legal team decides to seek a review of the seven-member bench’s decision. If they opt for this, the case may be dragged for some more weeks.
But the matter will not end with Gilani’s conviction. Legal experts say the conviction will ensue long-drawn legal procedure to unseat the prime minister, as after his conviction a question has to be raised in the National Assembly that he has become disqualified to be a member of the House.
The National Assembly speaker is bound to send a reference to the Election Commission within 30 days and the Election Commission, under the law, may take ninety days to announce its decision. In case of an adverse decision, Gilani will still have a chance to appeal against the decision of the Election Commission in the Supreme Court.
Following the cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters that the federal cabinet expressed solidarity with the prime minister and decided to accompany him to the court premises.
Kaira said the PM informed the cabinet that he would not accept any privilege while appearing before the SC in the contempt of court case and would go to the court on foot.
“The leaders and ministers from the coalition partners would also accompany the PM. We expect justice from the court and hope for justice,” he said.
Kaira said the president enjoyed immunity under local and international laws and writing a letter to Swiss authorities would be tantamount to surrendering immunity.
Asked if the government would implement the court’s verdict, the minister said the government’s legal and political teams would take a decision in line with the constitution and law of land.
“The prime minister has no ego problem and he is ready to appear before the court for a third time. He would appear before the court like an ordinary citizen,” he added.
In a late night development, the PPP leadership directed all its provincial and National Assembly members to reach Islamabad on Thursday to accompany the PM to the SC hearing.
A meeting of heads of all coalition parties in the government was also held to discuss the post-verdict scenario.